75-year-old woman found safe by python hunters a day after she vanished, Florida cops say
Darlene Peck, 75, was found by python hunters in the Everglades a day after she went missing, according to a Florida sheriff’s office.
Marion County Sheriff’s Office
Python hunters in South Florida found a 75-year-old woman with dementia a day after she vanished, according to a Florida sheriff’s office.
Darlene Marybell Peck went missing at around 1 p.m. on March 21 while on her way from Umatilla to Ocala, about 75 miles northwest of Orlando, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The next morning, her 2013 Nissan Rogue was seen in Coral Gables, 300 miles south of her home, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office put out a silver alert for her on March 22.
A group of python hunters found her in Everglades National Park on March 23, according to Local10.com.
Peck was in good health when she was found, and she has been reunited with her family, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
Python hunters work to eliminate Burmese pythons, which are a non-native species that now have a breeding population in South Florida and are harmful to native wildlife.
Each year, the state hosts a “Python Challenge” competition that encourages hunters to catch and kill as many of the snakes as they can with many focusing on the Everglades. The national park encompasses about 1.5 million acres of habitat and swampland.
